


Dear Dad

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Epistolary, Gen, Politics, cj emails her dad, the west wing meets the trump administration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 04:58:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18653362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: Sometimes when it's all too much, you just need to talk to someone you love. Even if they aren't here anymore.CJ Cregg emails her dad with her thoughts on Trump winning the presidency.





	Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

First of all, I miss you. I know you're probably tired of hearing that but I'm just going to keep saying it, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. 

Second of all, you really got off easy leaving when you did. The last time I emailed you, I was on the stump for Hillary Clinton. You probably remember her as the First Lady, but she did a lot of stuff after that. Senator from New York. Secretary of State. Well, in 2016, she ran for President and I was right there with her. You would have liked her. She's tough as nails and she's got the loudest laugh in the room. 

She lost. 

I know what you're going to say. "Chin up, kiddo. You can't win 'em all." But this wasn't just any loss, Dad. She lost to Donald Trump. You probably remember  _him_ (if you remember him at all) as a loud mouthed real estate con man from New York. Well, he got into politics in the nastiest way possible and just got nastier while he campaigned. He took over the Republican party and made them into the kind of people Josh always used to say they were. Only worse. 

We didn't see it coming. Every poll, every newspaper, every pundit on TV was saying that she was going to win in a landslide. There was something like an 8% chance that he'd win. 8%! But as a math teacher, you know that 8% isn't zero and somehow he managed to get the Electoral College to swing his way. 

That's right, Dad, it came down to the Electoral College. I always told you it was important, but you always insisted that the will of the people would out. Well, this time around the will of the people was to give Hillary Clinton more votes and to give Donald Trump the White House. I've never been one to say the founding fathers could do no wrong, but even for  _them_ , this is a bit much.  

Do you remember the night President Bartlett won? I called you from the hotel suite and there was so much cheering behind me that you couldn't hear a word I was saying and I couldn't even tell if you'd picked up the phone. Josh popped open a bottle of champagne and the cork shot out and hit the TV screen. It cracked. Everyone started yelling at him and then they all ran across the hall to Toby's room to watch in there. I think that might be the best moment in my life. 

Well, last night was the worst.

We had the party all planned out. We were hosting it at the Javits Centre in New York. It seemed like the perfect venue. A nice big space with a literal glass ceiling for the first woman President of the United States. It was just a matter of time until we dropped the balloons and played the music and Hillary came out with her victory speech. She wrote a concession speech too because she's a professional and that's what pros do, but no one expected that draft to ever see the light of day. 

When the results started coming in, it was predictable enough. Trump won West Virginia and Tennessee. Clinton won Connecticut and Illinois. Red states and blue ones. The party lines were in tact, but we thought they wouldn't stay that way. Trump's campaign had been dirty enough and the scandals that plagued him were dirtier. There are things that man said on tape that I couldn't repeat to you, even now. But then the Florida results started coming in and they were closer than we'd thought they'd be. Our polls said Clinton had a healthy lead, but the numbers were showing them neck and neck. That's when we started to get a bit nervous. 

"It's Florida," someone said. "We won't know until we know."

Josh called when Florida went Trump. He was running all of the numbers to see what Clinton's path to victory was. Sam called the other line. Toby actually got on the train and came right to the hotel. He walked in saying, "Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan." Josh and Sam had both already said the same thing. Three states between us and the presidency. We were all nervous now. No one was drinking. We needed to think clearly and alcohol wouldn't help. I remember someone holding my hand so hard that my fingers hurt, but I can't for the life of me remember who it was. 

When Pennsylvania went Trump, Toby opened a beer. "It's over," he said. Just like that. Shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and walked away. I heard him shout the loudest obscenity I've ever heard, but he did it on the balcony. When he came back in, he was as stone-faced as ever. The rest of us were silent, just staring at the TV in horror as the numbers kept coming in. He won Wisconsin and Michigan, too. First Republican to do it since 1988. He'd campaigned hard there, but we'd put our eggs in other baskets. Turns out we were wrong. I haven't turned on the news yet today but I'm sure cable news is going to be full of all the mistakes we made. Donald Trump was the worst presidential candidate in sixty years, and we still lost. 

She just finished her concession speech. I wanted to go and be there to watch her, but I just can't do it, Dad. I don't know how she did. She kept her head up and she gave us all hope, and I've never been prouder or more in awe of another person than I was watching her. I'll never forget hearing her say, "to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams."

I wanted her to win, Dad. And not just because I like her. And not just because she's a woman. She would have been a  _great_ President. She's smart and tenacious and she knows the system inside and out. She can work across the aisle and get things done and make you smile while she's doing it. She really  _cares_. About people, about policy, and about this country. And above all of that, she's  _competent_. 

I always try to leave you on a positive note, and that's the closest that I think I'm going to get today. Because Hillary didn't win. Trump did. And he's the opposite of all of that and then some. 

I know it's not the end of the world, and I know the campaign isn't the same as the presidency. He has good people working with him, and he'll be the president of everyone - including me. But none of that matters right now because my heart is broken. I wanted so much for her to win and I'm so scared of why she didn't. It feels like this country isn't what I always thought it was, and I'm going to need time to figure this out. What does it say that my greatest hope for the next four years is that a Republican House is going to be a check on a Republican president? Here's hoping they rise to the occasion because if they don't...

I'll write again when I'm feeling better and I've had a chance to digest this. Until then, I love you so much. 

Your daughter,

Claudia

 


End file.
